Day 1 – Return To Training – Follow my Journey

It’s been 4 long and I do mean long weeks since my operation and thank the lord, I am finally now allowed to start to train gain albeit very carefully!!

This is great news on all fronts. I didn't realize how much I missed the training, until I got into the gym today. My mood was changed instantly.

If you are ever stressed or frustrated, and then go and do some exercise, it's a panacea to most problems. It clears the mind, allowing you to focus which in turns starts to generate the solutions to the problems. I digress however!

The reason behind the delay back to training is I have had to wait to have the stitches out and for the wound to fully “heal” before I was allowed to train. I say heal not mend as that’s still another 12/16 weeks or so. I remain on crutches and will be for another 8 weeks, so any little victories are to be really enjoyed.

The down side to this return to training is now I have to get everything in order; by this I mean nutrition, recovery and focus. I have positioned this injury in my mind’s eye as having real positive connotations. Something I can use to my advantage instead of viewing it as a setback.

The idea is to come back fitter, more mobile and powerful. I have enjoyed my down time and allowed myself to put on weight and sadly not good weight at that. However in the recovery and tissue repair period, eating carbs is really important, as is looking after your immune system. So eating more fruit than usual or more carbs is in general a positive.

I have been relatively relaxed about my diet, but have kept an eye on my calories through the app My Fitness pal. When I say I have, I mean I have been filling it in, but my wonderful girl friend has gone above and beyond in the preparation.

I have been very sedentary for the last 4 weeks so was trying to maintain my muscle mass without gaining too much unwanted fat. I was sticking to around 3000 calories per day. (This is not a recommendation to you to follow, as everyone is different. You starting eating 3000 calories you could balloon into a beach ball with a face)

This being said, I very rarely get time off and have not really had much rest in the last 14 years. So while I watched my calories, I decided if I wanted to eat something I would.

The rationale behind this is there is going to be enough strict dieting and hard training to last a lifetime in the next 4 months. So enjoy it while you can was my thinking. Although as with everything within reason of course!

I wanted followers of James Haskell Health & Fitness to be able to track my journey from the start of my rehab, all the way to when I play again.

I will also be doing a series of written blogs and posts on my website www.jameshaskell.com just like this one.

My Starting Point!

This is what I look like today the 20th August.

This is a big day for me, as I would never normally post a photo of myself out of shape. This is of course always inevitably due to reasons of vanity.

It's a good example of why social media is so dangerous; never believe the photos people post, or the lives they pretend to live. However that is story for another day and several dozen blogs!

What am I doing?

Before I go into exactly what I am doing at the moment, it’s important to note that I always recommend the best way to track your progress is by using photos. There are some rules to doing this. It is very important to always do it in the same area, location, and the same time of day and ideally in the same clothes or at least style of clothes. Don’t wear a burka for the start or end shots for example!!

You can of course weigh yourself. However I am not really trying to lose weight. Instead my focus is on reducing my body fat (clearly when I reduce my fat, my weight will fluctuate) and crucially for me to build back-up the wasted muscle.

My Stats as of day one

Weight = 121kg

Bodyfat = 13%

Marcos wise I am doing the following (This will change as the training intensifies) 2g protein per kg, 1-gram carbs, 1 gram fat for now.

I am then dividing this into 4 meals, which I am trying to have 3 – 4 hours apart. However this is not vital, it’s just a rough guide to stick to.

While I am comfortable with following my own nutrition plan, I wanted to hook up with someone to take things to the next level. For most people you don't need to go to these heights, but for professional sports people it’s very beneficial.

I am always keen to really push myself to ensure I can get the best out of what I am doing. However the key is not to over complicate things. Trust me I have done that in the past.

So this time around I decided to work with someone I trust. I have worked with Matt Lovell many times over the last 14 seasons. He has worked with the England Rugby team for years, Manchester city and others!

I decided to hook back up with Matt and look to really get my nutrition rebooted and sorted.

I am also super lucky to have Chloe (My girlfriend, who runs her own fitness business www.fitnessfodue.com) looking after me. She is amazing at her nutrition and makes sure that I stay on track. She cooks for me, makes shakes and looks after my supplements.

It makes a massive difference if your partner is helping you, and following the same goals.

There are some statistics out there which suggest if not show that those people who have a training partners or members of their family following the same programme, are much more likely to succeed.

In my next blog I will talk a little bit more about what I am doing training wise.

So if as I said at the start, if you want to follow along and transform yourself then you can work virtually with me by following my 12 week Lean Gains plan.

Calling all rugby players, both young and old – Please watch this video!

Not a day goes by that I don't get a private message on one of my social media channels from either an aspiring young player or an older, more experienced player, of either sex, looking to improve their game and subsequent enjoyment of their sport, by stepping up a level.

Young players contact me asking for any and all tips about rugby – such as how to stand out in a trial? How to become a professional rugby player? Or just how to get bigger? These being just a flavor of some of the most commonly asked questions.

I always try to reply to each and every question in as much detail as I can but the sheer volume of questions, although highly flattering, means with all my other commitments I am really struggling to keep up.

The last thing I wanted was for any fan to think I was ignoring them or hadn’t bothered to take the time and trouble to reply in the detail required. So forever thinking as to how I could square this particular circle, I has a eureka moment.

I decided to write a book!

The logic being I could answer every question in as much detail as was required, as well as advise about all the other stuff players really ought to know but had forgotten to ask.

In other words recount and put down on paper in one place, all the experiences and unique insights I am fortunate enough to have had, as a result of being a professional rugby player for the last 12 years.

I am unique, in terms of all other current British Isles Internationals, to have played in all four of the top domestic competitions in World Rugby and on six of the seven continents.

So I sincerely hope I have covered every possible rugby specific question in the book!

It’s now available in traditional book form as well as an EBook for your smart phone or tablet. There is also a Video Plus version available Here.

To give you an idea of some of topics covered in the book. They include

- Core skills development

- Conditioning drills

- Rugby specific training

- How to get bigger

- What to eat

- When to eat

- Recovery

- Hydration

- Proper warm-up routine

- Supplements

- Everything explained with the help of video and pictures.

If you want to find out more about the different versions of the book, then please Click Here. If you have any questions about the book then contact us on our social media @JamesHaskellhf for twitter, @jameshask for instagram and finally our Facebook page.

Now you can have the Body you want - The Complete Solution

Its arrived!

JHHF’s amazing new 12 week Lean Gains Training EBook!

This book contains all the information, guidance and help you need to put on lean muscle and size.

It has been written for both women and men and is guaranteed to deliver the results you have always wanted, providing you closely follow the plan. The Leans Gains package is designed for increasing strength and muscle mass, whilst reducing body fat levels.

However where we are justified in calling our Book, The Complete Solution, is unlike most other packages of this nature, ours comes complete with not one but two comprehensive Nutrition solutions. As we understand that 65% of any successful training package revolves around the correct inclusion, use and understanding of nutrition.

The package comes in a number of formats and options designed to suit your lifestyle and budget:

Exercise Myths and Facts

Myth:

Always stretch before you work out.

Reality:

Several studies over the past few years have shown that what’s called static stretching— as in when you bend over and touch your toes for the count of 10 — actually makes you weaker and less stable in your workout.

The solution:

Warm up with easy, no-weight sets of the exercises in your routine. See James Haskell recommended Warm up routine:

A recent study in the American Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that when athletes warmed up after stretching and then performed a test where they threw a heavy medicine ball, the correct warm-up procedure completely eliminated the weakening effects of the stretching process.

No Gym Fat Loss Workout

Another free training session courtesy of JHHF

Bodyweight sessions are great, especially as you don't need access to a gym or much, if any, equipment to get going. This means the sessions are easy to do and simple to fit into your schedule.

Everybody rushes to lift weights, but nobody focuses on getting their body strong and fit through using their own body weight to train. You cannot underestimate how good doing bodyweight work is for your body and core strength gains.

I would rather be able to do 30 press-ups and 30 chin-ups, than bench 150kgs.

It’s especially important if you are an athlete of some description.

So please view the video below to follow the session. Then if you feel inspired to try this at home, simply click the link to read my blog and get the free exercise session.

Safety in numbers as long as you perform for long enough

Feel good about carving out a half hour of gym time a day? A study recently published in the journal Circulation this week suggests that your 30-minute routine on the treadmill might not be doing as much good as you think.

Researchers have discovered that whilst a half-hour daily workout did certainly decrease the risk of heart disease to a degree, they equally discovered that exercising for twice as long, namely an hour or even four times as long, if you have the time and energy to spend two-hours in the gym and/or on a treadmill, significantly lowered the risk of having a heart attack by between twenty to thirty five percentage points.

Group Rugby Fitness Session

This video is a JHTV throwback video that I did with some of the guys on a recent JH RugbyFit camp. I also invited down the top lads from London Muscle @LDN_muscle to take part in the session.

I have done quite a few things with LDN in the past, so wanted to show them the kind of training we do for rugby. The idea was to put them through a session we would use in pre-season training or during the season as a fitness top up. This session would mainly be used for those squad players who don't get much, if any game time, over the weekend.

I wanted to share this session with you because a lot of the training you will see in the film is included in my new RugbyFit EBook, “An Introduction to Becoming and Remaining Rugby Fit”.

To read the support blog for the video which contains free content all the sessions which appear in the video click here.

If you want to find out more about the RugbyFit book. How it can really help and benefit you, as well as taking a sneak preview of some of the contents from the book, then please click HERE.

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